Low temperature ultrahigh vacuum noncontact atomic force microscope in the pendulum geometry

A noncontact atomic force microscope (nc-AFM) operating in magnetic fields up to +/- 7 T and liquid helium temperatures is presented in this article. In many common AFM experiments the cantilever is mounted parallel to the sample surface, while in our system the cantilever is assembled perpendicular to it; the so called pendulum mode of AFM operation. In this mode measurements employing very soft and, therefore, ultrasensitive cantilevers can be performed. The ultrahigh vacuum conditions allow to prepare and transfer cantilevers and samples in a requested manner avoiding surface contamination. We demonstrate the possibility of nc-AFM and Kelvin force probe microscopy imaging in the pendulum mode. Ultrasensitive experiments on small spin ensembles are presented as well. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3551603]